Menu Social Icons

Mercy Thompson World Series Guide

There are more than just humans in the world. Fae, vampires and werewolves, as well as other critters, have been hiding within the population for years. And now, because of the invention of new technologies they are starting to come out to humans. This is Mercy Thompson and Anna Latham’s reality, both women, strong in their own ways, face situations that have wider repercussions not just on their own lives but those of the supernatural and mundane world as well. Welcome to the world of monsters.

When we think about the best of Urban Fantasy, it is hard NOT to think of Patricia Briggs and her Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series. Both series are set in the same world with characters that crisscross both series and they both have some of the best covers out there. In these series Briggs manages to mix the right quantity of magic, the paranormal, action and romance to create a world that keeps you hooked.

This guide is on both Alpha & Omega series and the Mercy Thompson series, which are set in the same world and have a lot of crossover. This is a timeline style series order which will mix up the two series as we are listing the books chronologically.

**Please note that Briggs has written a lot of novellas and graphic novels in this world, which will be included in the below timeline but may not be mentioned elsewhere within this Series Guide**

Book 4: Hunting Ground
Series: #2 Alpha & OmegaAnna Cornick and Charles Cornick deal with the European werewolves in a summit about coming out to humans. Trouble ensues…UTC Review

Book 4.1: Star of David In anthology: Shifting Shadows A Christmas story about David Christensen who appears in Moon Called and ends up being the ‘poster boy’ for werewolves when they come out to humans. UTC Review

Book 5: Blood Bound
Series: #2 Mercy Thompson
When a sorcerer comes to town vampires, werewolves, the fae…and one coyote walker work to hunt it down.UTC Review

Book 6: Iron Kissed
Series: #3 Mercy Thompson
When a close friend of Mercy Thompson’s is falsely accused of murder, she jumps straight in and finds herself knee deep in fae troubles.UTC Review

Book 7: Bone Crossed
Series: #4 Mercy Thompson
The vampires find out Mercy Thompson killed one of their own in Blood Bound, neither Mercy or any of her friends are safe.UTC Review

Book 7.1: Roses in Winter
In anthology: Shifting Shadows
Features characters that appear in both Alpha & Omega and Mercy Thompson, but especially on Kara Beckworth who was turned into a werewolf too youngUTC Review

Book 10: Fair Game
Series: #3 Alpha & OmegaCharles Cornick and Anna Latham help the FBI solve a serial murder case where fae and werewolves are the victimsUTC Review

Book 11: Frost Burned
Series: #7 Mercy ThompsonAdam Hauptman and his pack and taken, leaving Mercy Thompson and a few friends to try and find him and find out who is behind the kidnapping plot.UTC Review

Book 11.1: Unappreciated Gifts
In anthology: A Fantastic Holiday Season: Volume 2 – The Gift of Stories
The Aspen Creek pack play with Asil and set him upon some blind datesAmazon US | iBooks | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Book 12: Dead Heat
Series: #4 Alpha & OmegaCharles Cornick and Anna Latham go visit an old friend, but get more than they bargained for when an old powerful fae starts making troubleUTC Review

Book 13: Night Broken
Series: #8 Mercy Thompson
When Adam Hauptman’s ex-wife comes to down, she is trailing trouble behind her, dragging Mercy Thompson and the Columbia Basin pack into a fight they may not be able to win.UTC Review

Book 14: Fire Touched
Series: #9 Mercy Thompson
Things going into Underhill never come out the same. Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman discover this when they find themselves protecting a seemingly human boy who has been trapped their for centuries.UTC Review

Book 15: Silence Fallen
Series: #10 Mercy Thompson
Waking up as the captive of the Master of Milan becomes the least of Mercy Thompson’s troubles as she once again gets thrown into the deep end of vampire politics.UTC Review

Book 16: Burn Bright
Series: #5 Alpha & Omega
There’s a traitor in the Aspen Creek pack and Charles Cornick and Anna Latham must find out who it is.UTC Review

Book 15: Storm Cursed
Series: #11 Mercy Thompson
Black magic has invaded the Tri Cities, lead by Death and leaving zombies in its wake. Mercy Thompson now defender of the Tri Cities and its citizens must keep everyone safe.
UTC Review

Mercy Thompson

Alpha & Omega

Human’s have became aware of the presence of the fae in the world in the 80s. Years later the werewolves reveal themselves. They are a mixture of fascinated and afraid of both races.

Main Characters: Jesse Hauptman, Kyle Brooks

Werewolves are organised into packs with the strongest and most dominant being the alpha. The “alpha of alphas” in North America is called the Marrock and is Bran Cornick and he has the responsibility of keeping all the packs in line. Werewolves tend to be constantly on the edge of violence, especially more dominant werewolves and must exercise iron control. Werewolf magic is limited to the act of shifting into a wolf and they cannot do anything further with the exception of Charles Cornick.

How to become a werewolf… To become a werewolf someone must be bitten, however, a small bite will not initiate the change, someone need to be mauled and close near death. If the Change works they will heal quickly and shift to a werewolf at the next full moon. Men have a better chance of surviving the change than women, which is why there are more male werewolves. New werewolves are given a year to control their wolf. If by the end of their first year they don’t have control, then they are killed. The average life span of a werewolf after they’ve been changed is 10 years, werewolves often kill each other in dominance fights.Strengths: Strength, speed, enhanced senses, longevity, heal very fast, can change to a wolfWeaknesses: Silver, older werewolves tend to go insane, women cannot carry children past 3 monthsMain Characters: Adam Hauptman, Anna Latham, Bran Cornick, Charles Cornick, Samuel Cornick

Vampires live in seethes, with a Master or Mistress at the head who controls the rest of the vampires. Vampires drink blood and stronger vampires often have a menagerie of humans, who they refer to as ‘sheep’ who feed them. To come into a home a vampire has to be expressly welcomed in otherwise they cannot enter. To become stronger a vampire must feed from another vampire. The older a vampire gets the more unique abilities they have.

Strengths: Strong, fast, immortal, able to put humans under a thrall, very hard to killWeaknesses: Fire, wooden stakes, they are repelled/hurt by signs of faith such as crosses and the Stars of David,Main Characters: Stefan Uccello, Marsilia

The fae come from Europe, with many coming to America to avoid persecution. There are many different types of fae, each with different strength of power and abilities. There used to be a High Court of fae, but now the leaders of the fae are the Gray Lords and all fae fear them obey their orders. Most fae hide within the human population behind a glamour. Be careful not to say “Thank you” to a fae as they may interpret that as you owing them something…which can be deadly.
Fae coming out… The Gray Lords orchestrated the fae revealing their existence to humans in a dramatic fashion during a trial, when a fae, Kieran McBride, a garden sprite was falsely accused of murder. The Gray Lords than ordered all lesser fae to reveal their identity, this caused problems with human persecuting fae consequently reservations have been built for the fae.
Strengths: Strong magic and innate abilitiesWeaknesses: Iron, they cannot lieMain Characters: Siebold Adelbertsmiter, Tad Adelbertsmiter, Ariana

Witches have the innate ability to control magic and centres on body and mind – a different type of magic user to wizards who control physical objects. There used to be different large families of witches in Western Europe. However, those bloodlines have mostly died out due to all the power struggles between the families. Witches can be spontaneously born in mundane families but they don’t have as much power as those from the old Western European families. Witches from other places such as China and Eastern Europeans never organised their dynasties to the same extant as the Western Europeans did. There are two types of witches, black witches and white witches and women tend to be stronger witches then men.

Black Witches – Black witches derive their power from death and pain and are very very bad news.White Witches – White witches don’t tend to be as powerful as black witches as they do not take their power through torture and death. White witches tend to be hunted by black witches as their pain and death brings the black witch a lot more power than a regular human.Strengths: Strong magicWeaknesses: Have a human lifespan and human strength, speed and sensesMain Characters: Elizaveta Arkadyevna Vyshnevetskaya, Moira from Seeing Eye novella

Unlike werewolves, vampires and the fae who originate in Europe, walkers are native to America. Walkers have the ability to almost instantaneously shift into a particular animal. For example, Mercy Thompson shifts into a coyote. They are also immune to most vampire magics and thus when vampires came over to America, walkers hunted them down and killed them. Ever since vampires and walkers tend to kill each other on sight. Walkers are also able to see and interact with ghosts.

Strengths: Can shift into a particular animal, enhanced senses, immune to most vampire magicWeaknesses: Not as strong as WerewolvesMain Characters: Mercy Thompson

Name: Mercedes Athena Thompson known as Mercy
First Appears in: Moon Called Appearance: Tanned skin – from her Blackfoot Indian and white mixed background, with an athletic build from her karate lessons. Has long, straight brown hair, usually kept in braids. She has a tattoo of a coyote paw print on her belly, below the navel and two Celtic knots on her upper arms; Has buckshot scars on her bum.Significant Other: Adam HauptmanFamily: Margi (mother) Joe Old Coyote/Coyote (father)Age: 30sRace: Walker – turns into a coyotePack: Becomes part of the Columbia Basin PackAbout: Mercy grew up in the Marrok’s Aspen Creek pack in Montana by foster parents and left to live with her mother when she was 16 after having her heart broken by Samuel Cornick. She graduated with a history degree and became a VW mechanic. She now owns her own shop, which she bought from her old boss Zee, and specialises in VWs and German cars. She lives in a trailer opposite Adam’s house with her cat Medea. Every time Adam annoys her by being overbearing she does something to disrupt his sense of order, like taking the wheels of an abandoned car which he can see from his bedroom window. She often does this with the help of his teenage daughter Jesse.Fantasy Cast: Julia Jones

Name: Adam Hauptman
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppearance: Very striking looking man with dark hair and eyes.Significant Other: Mercy ThompsonFamily: Jesse Hauptman (daughter)Age: Approximately 64Race: Dominant Werewolf – Changes into a large wolf with deep silver fur, almost blue with an undercoat of lighter colors; muzzle, ears, tail and legs deepen to black and yellow eyesPack: Alpha of the Columbia Basin PackAbout: Adam is not only the Alpha but runs a security firm and has a teenager daughter and is divorced from her mother. Adam got changed whilst he was a soldier in Vietnam. He was attacked and left for dead by a werewolf, but instead of dying he survived. He is now the strongest alpha werewolf after Bran, Charles and SamuelCornick.Fantasy Cast: Antonio Cupo

Name: Anna Cornick nee Latham
First Appears in: Alpha & OmegaAppearance: A few inches over 5 foot and slender pale skin and freckle, curly light brown hair and whisky coloured eyesSignificant Other: Charles CornickAge: Early to Mid 20sRace: Omega Werewolf – Changes into a small (for a werewolf) black wolf with ice blue eyesPack: Originally part of Leo’s Chicago pack, but after events in Alpha & Omega joins the Marrok’s pack in Montana with Charles CornickAbout: A rare Omega werewolf, Anna was change against her will and abused in her old pack. Before she was Changed she was a college student at Northwestern studying Music Theory with her primary instrument being the cello. She likes to swear in Latin, which is a habit she learnt from her father.Fantasy Cast: Emmy Rossum

Name: Charles Cornick
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppearance: Native American, with hip length black hair that is usually braided down his back.Significant Other: Anna LathamFamily: Samuel Cornick (older half-brother) Bran Cornick (father) Blue Jay Woman (mother – deceased)Age: Approximately 200 years oldRace: Dominant Werewolf – He transforms into a very large – even for a werewolf – red wolfPack: Part of the Marrok’s (Bran Cornick’s) Aspen Creek pack in Montana. Is the Marrok’s executioner and second in commandAbout: He is the only werewolf to have been born and not made, as such he can change to his werewolf form almost instantly unlike all other werewolves. Also, unlike most werewolves he can wield magic. He also has a stronger adverse reaction to silver compared to most werewolves.Fantasy Cast: Martin Sensmeier

Name: Samuel Llewellyn Cornick
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppearance: Over 6 ft tall and muscled with light blue-gray eyes with brown hair streaked from the sunSignificant Other: ArianaFamily: Bran Cornick (father) Charles Cornick (younger half-brother)Age: At least 700 years old–was alive during the Black Plague circa 1340Race: Dominant Werewolf – White fur; no markings; ice blue eyes with black ringed irisPack: He has been part of his father’s Aspen Creek pack, the Marrok, however, he sometimes operates as a lone wolf.About: Although Samuel is one of the oldest werewolves alive and was born when Bran was still human, due to his easy going nature he is often mistaken as a much younger wolf, with most believing that his younger brother Charles is Bran’s eldest. Samuel is a doctor, which is rare for a werewolf as blood stirs their werewolf instincts. He has had wives and children in the past that have tragically died for various reasons, but he longs to have a mate and children who will survive alongside him.Fantasy Cast: Sam Claflin

Name: Bran Cornick also known as The Marrok,First Appears in: Moon CalledAppearance: Sandy-haired young man with a nondescript face and warm hazel eyes.Significant Other: Leah CornickFamily: Samuel Cornick (son) Charles Cornick (son) Dafydd (father)Race: Werewolf – Fur that is all shades between black and white that makes him look like a medium grey colour with a white tipped tail with pale gold eyes.Pack: He is the Marrock – Alpha of all North American Alphas, but is personal alpha of the Aspen Creek pack in Montana, which is where new werewolves are turned and troublesome and old werewolves are sent.About: Bran is the oldest known werewolf and came to America in the 1800s, where he met, fell in love and mated Charles’s Salish mother Blue Jay Woman. He is often underestimated due to his young and fairly nondescript appearance and his ability to hide how powerful he is. Known in the past as Deathbringer as he went berserk and spent years mercilessly killing anyone in his path. His mother was a black witch and the one who turned him into a werewolf, he managed to break free when she ordered him to kill his son Samuel Cornick, the full story is told in the novella Silver.Fantasy Cast: Evan Peters

Zee
Name: Siebold Adelbertsmiter known as Zee. Also known as Siebold Adelbert Smiter from the Black Forest, The Blacksmith of Drontheim First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Fire Touched, Storm CursedHuman Appearance: Lanky and rawboned with a potbelly. Balding with cool gray eyesFae Appearance: He is at least ten inches taller than when he is in his human guise; he has pointed ears, his skin is dark and has long golden hair.Family: Tad Adelbertsmiter (son)Race: Fae – refers to himself as a gremlinAbout: He is a gremlin and has an affinity with metal, one of the few fae that can touch iron. He is extremely old and extremely powerful and it’s through his own choice that he is not a Gray Lord.Fantasy Cast: Viggo Mortensen (Human appearance)

Ariana
Name: Ariana her name means ‘Silver’ First Appears in: SilverAppears in: Silver, Silver Borne, Frost BurnedHuman Appearance: Looks pleasantly average, with pale gold hair and soft grey eyes. Looks to be between 25-30.Fae Appearance: Silver/lavender hair, with dark skin. Her body has many old scars from the abuse she suffered from her fatherSignificant Other: Samuel CornickFamily: Her father was a powerful forest lord who grew jealous of Ariana’s power and tortured her by setting his hounds on her. The full story is told in the novella Silver Race: FaeAbout: She has a Beast inside her that comes out to protect her when it feels she is in danger. She is afraid of werewolves. She has a unique ability to work silver.Fantasy Cast: May Andersen

Elizaveta Name: Elizaveta Arkadyevna VyshnevetskayaFirst Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Frost Burned, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: Tall and thin with grey penetrating eyes and dresses in layers of rich fabric with a scarf that wraps around her head and neck.Race: WitchAbout: She is Russian but has lived in America for at least twenty years. Witch for the Columbia Basin Pack, best witch in the Pacific North West.

Sylvia
Name: Sylvia SandovalFirst Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Silver Borne, Frost BurnedAppearance: Petite, dark hair and eyes.Family: Gabriel Sandoval (son)Significant Other: Isn’t aware that Tony is in love with her.Race: HumanAbout: Is an emergency services operator. Is a single mother and has been described as ‘poor but proud’. Fierce personality and rules her children with a mixture of love and discipline.

Tony
Name: Tony MontenegroFirst Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Fire TouchedAppearance: Black hair and olive skinned in his 30s.Significant Other: Is in love with Sylvia SandovalRace: HumanAbout: He works as an undercover cop for the Kennewick PD and has an almost magical ability to change his appearance. He has become friends with Mercy.

Tad
Name: Thaddeus “Tad” AdelbertsmiterFirst Appears in: Frost BurnedAppears in: Iron Kissed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Fire Touched, Storm CursedHuman Appearance: Charismatic, but not necessarily attractive with ears that stick out and a flattened noseFamily: Siebold Adelbertsmiter (father)Race: Half blood fae – Not all half blood fae’s are that powerful, however, Tad has more power than most.About: Tad is mentioned frequently in Mercy Thompson series. He is Zee’s son and used to work in Mercy’s garage before he went off to university.

WarrenName: Warren
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Night Broken, Fire Touched, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: Built like a marathon runner; rugged look to himSignificant Other: Kyle BrooksRace: Werewolf – Brown wolfPlace in Pack: Adam’s third, should be his second but no one in the Pack would accept that as he is gay.About: One of Mercy’s best friends. He is gay, which is taboo in werewolf societyFantasy Cast: Adam Senn

BenName: Ben
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Night Broken, Fire Touched, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: Tall with pale hair and a British accentRace: Werewolf – Red coatAbout: Came to the Columbia Basin pack after he was associated with a number of serial rapes in England, however, he claims he is innocent of the crimes.Fantasy Cast: Jason Caselton

HoneyName: Honey Jorgenseon
First Appears in: Blood BoundAppears in: Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, Frost Burned, Night Broken, Fire Touched, Silence FallenAppearance: Very beautiful with golden brown hair to her hips, pouty lips and very classy looking.Significant Other: Peter JorgenseonRace: Werewolf – A striking wolf with light fawn fur with a darker undercoat with a silvery stripe down her back. Crystal grey eyes. A small wolf.About: She is mated to a submissive wolf and as females take their rank from their mate within the pack, that means she is ranked as submissive. However, she is naturally a very dominant wolf and if she wasn’t female is likely to be an Alpha’s second of third.

AidenName: Aiden
First Appears in: Fire TouchedAppears in: Fire Touched, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedRace: He was once human, but is now more akin to a faeAbout: He was stolen as a child and lived in Underhill and becoming its favourite play thing. Although he looks like a young human boy, he was lived for a lot longer and has an affinity for fire. He is in the process of being adopted by Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman.

Stafford PostName: Stafford Post
First Appears in: Silence FallenAppears in: Silence Fallen, Storm CursedRace: Werewolf – dominantAbout: He was found in a cage in a black witch’s house with his leg missing. He has no memory of who he was before this time. Or so he says. It is almost certain that Bran recognises and knows who he is, but he has not revealed Stafford’s real identity to anyone.

Marsilia
Name: Marisilia Mistress of the Mid-Columbia Seethe
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Bone Crossed, Frost Burned, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: She looks as though she is in her early twenties and has blonde hair and dark eyes. Her human imitation, like breathing and smiling etc is almost perfect. However, the slight ‘offness’ makes her creepy.Race: VampireAbout: She was exiled from Milan over 200 years a go when she fed from Lord of the Night – the Master of Milan’s -werewolf mistress

Stefan
Name: Stefano Uccello known within his seethe as the Soldier
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Bone Crossed, Frost Burned, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: Looks like he is in his early twenties, tall and broad shouldered, however, he often seem unobtrusive. He has pale skin with brown eyes and dark hair. His fangs are shorter than a werewolf and smells of wood smoke and popcorn.Race: VampireAbout: Drives a VW bus painted like Scooby’s Mystery Machine. Made by Marsilia, Mistress of the Mid-Columbia Seethe. Even though he was made by Marsilia, unlike all other vampires, he never felt compelled to obey his makers orders. He follows Marsilia out of love and loyalty.Fantasy Cast: Wim De Klerk

Andre
Name: Andre known within the seethe as the Courtier
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Blood BoundRace: VampireAbout: Friends with Stefan and both loves him and is extremely jealous of him. made by Marisilia

Lilly
Name: Lilly
First Appears in: Moon CalledAppears in: Moon Called, Bone CrossedAppearance: Curly red/blonde hair with a faintly aged face.Race: VampireAbout: She is ‘touched’, most vampires would have been destroyed is they are found to have a mental impairment that affected their control. However, she is a musical protege so the vampires in the seethe guard her at all times to ensure she does not harm anyone.

Wulfe
Name: Wulfe known within the seethe as the Wizard
First Appears in: Blood BoundAppears in: Blood Bound, Bone Crossed, Frost Burned, Silence Fallen, Storm CursedAppearance: Looks like a teenager and has white blonde hairRace: VampireAbout: Is able to work strong magic, no one is ever certain of his motives. He is the one of the oldest vampires

Asil
Name: Asil, widely know the Moor. Also known as Hussan
First Appears in: Cry WolfAppears in: Cry Wolf, Roses in Winter, Fair Game, Frost Burned, Unappreciated Gifts, Burn BrightAppearance: Looks like he is in his mid-twenties, 5’5″ tall, Middle Eastern, very handsome with elegant and refined features, black eyes and teal skin. Has a Spanish accent.Age: Around 1300 years oldRace: Werewolf – Dark brown almost black wolfAbout: Had a mate called Sarai who was tortured and murdered by a black witch. Is a sly old wolf who like to goad Charles Cornick. He also believes he is sliding into madness and joined the Marrock’s pack so that Bran could kill him when the time comes.

Kara
Name: Kara BeckworthFirst Appears in: Roses in WinterAppears in: Roses in WinterAppearance:Race: WerewolfAbout: She was attacked by a werewolf when she was 10 and survived the change – the youngest person known to have survived. Her parents kept her locked in the basement during the full moon when she changed, however, when she was 13 she tried to kill herself. This prompted her father to find Mercy Thompson to ask for help. She is now part of the Marrok’s pack to learn control. Becomes close friends with Asil.

Mercy Thompson

Alpha & Omega

Want to see more series guides?
To see all the guides we’ve created just click here